Decemboobs 2015, Days 11 and 13.

We’re now at the stage of the Decemboobs drawing challenge where things started to get rougher for me, with day 12 being missed entirely and the 13th artwork ending up kind of unflattering towards its subject. Though three years on, that artwork doesn’t look so bad.

Day 11:

Digital drawing/painting of a nude pregnant woman in bright body paint colors. There’s a phoenix on her torso.

What I wrote about this at the time:

From The Gothamist’s photo series on a body painting event in New York, last July. The photo report is a fantastic source of different body types, with the added complication that their paint work tends to distort and obfuscate the normal challenge. It was fun working on this image, and I could easily have had many more hours of fun getting all the details right. The photos were made in a public place, which renders the issue of permissions from the models moot. This pregnant lady with a phoenix on her body was one of about a hundred participants in the event, and was prominently featured in one good, clear photo. I didn’t do the background this time – instead I wanted to focus on painting just one part of the scene.

Problem is, I can’t paint worth shit. Never have been. I can draw a little, on a good day, but when it comes to painting, I’m never sure what I’m even supposed to do. This will have to change in 2016.

Basic drawing in Sketchbook Pro, 2 layers, pencil layer on top. Heavily adjusted in Photoshop so that at least the magentas more or less matched what was in the picture. Learning how to use Adjustments and what their limitations are has been an unexpected bonus to this project, but eventually I will have to sit down and get my drawing tablet properly colour calibrated, because the level of deviation between screens is ridiculous.

My inability to paint properly did not end up getting worked on in 2016 but I did practice it a bit more in 2018. Back then, I had the idea of featuring the phoenix lady in a comic, probably Spun Off. Unfortunately, work on that comic really slowed down during that period, so it hasn’t happened yet and I kind of forgot about it. But it might still happen.

The report in The Gothamist still exists and the link still works.

Day 13:

Digital color drawing of a middle-aged woman standing nude before a shower curtain. Parts of her skin are red from sunburn.

What I wrote about this at the time:

I’m back on the horse after missing two days. I will try to finish the one for Day 11 and backdate it but I should consider Day 12 to be a goner at this point. Now, for my next trick, I should try to bring the quality back up again.

Source
The source image is added to the pic, because it probably hasn’t been published before. It’s my friend Becky from California after overdoing the nude sunbathing a bit. The drawing at least gives a basic indication of her colour zones – the yellows and browns as well as the reds of the sunburn. I had to adjust it heavily in Photoshop because of the calibration issues – not that it looked right on my Cintiq, mind. Also, once again, the face is a mess. You can’t win them all, I guess. When you’re learning to do new things, you occasionally get a drawing that just doesn’t come out right.

Drawing and posting of reference image by personal permission of Becky.

Tumblr seems to have removed the source image and while Becky would probably be OK with me reposting it, I’m not going to.